Apparatus for building walls



Jan. 1, 1957 R. c. GROVER ET AL 2,775,807

APPARATUS FOR BUILDING WALLS File d May 20, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

Qussel/ C Grover and BY Frank Sl/VQ Mir/w F) TTOENEY United StatesPatent APPARATUS FOR BUILDING WALLS Russell C. Grover, New Albany, Ind.,and Frank W. Silva, Louisville, Ky.

Application May 20, 1952, Serial No. 288,904

11 Claims. (Cl. 25-131) This invention relates to an apparatus for sitecasting monolith walls of concrete and the like, and relates inparticular to a form which may be employed to cast concrete insuperposed courses.

It is an object of the invention to provide a moldor form for castingwalls including a simple supporting apparatus to allow the form to beraised for casting superposed courses.

A further object is the provision of a form for casting walls whichforms a wall in simulation of clapboard with overlap joint.

A further object is the provision or" a form for casting walls whichdoes not require skilled workmen for its assembly and operation.

These and other objects will be apparent upon consideration of thisspecification taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings forminga part hereof, illustrating a preferred embodiment by way of example,and wherein: Figure 1 is an elevational fragmentary view showing theinvention applied to a partly constructed building;

Figure 2 is a sectional view similar to Figure 1; Figure 3 is a planView showing the corner construction;

constructing a building;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a dam; Figure 6 is a side elevation ofan inside corner filler; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating a modified wall structure.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1, in constructing a building thefooting 1 is cast preferably with ;a vertical rod 2 embedded therein, ateach corner, and at intervals as. desired between corners; and longthreaded rods or posts 3a, 3b, 3c,-and 3d (Fig, 4-) are suitably coupledthereto in vertical position by sleeves 4 or the like. Each threaded rodreceives a jack nut 5 which comprises a sleeve 5a having a flange 5b anda screw threaded nut 5c"welded together. The sleeve of a jack nut passesthrough the opening 8 in a gusset plate 9 so that the- Figure 4 is aplan view showing the invention used in gusset plate is suspended orsupported by the flange 5b and the nut can be turned by a suitable toolto raise or. lower the gussetplate along the post or rod. Opening 8 issufliciently larger than sleeve 5a so as to allow for misalignment ofcenters of the opening and rod. As the gussetplates are all alike, onlyone will be described in detail, Along the two front edges of eachgusset plate,

The ends of the inside form plateare skewed as indicated" at 19 and ateach corner, the end 19 of one form plate fastened to the gusset plateis spaced from the end 21 of the adjacent form plate fastened to thesame gusset plate as shown in Figure 3. The outside form plate 22 is ofgeneral Z-shape with an outturned top flange 23 and an inturned bottomflange 24 joined by a fillet to plate 22. At each end the top flange hasa pair of apertured bosses 25 which receive between them the boss 11depending from the gusset plate, and a pin 26 passing horizontallythrough, holds the outer plates suspended from the gusset plate. Thispin preferably is so located as to be exterior the center of gravity ofthe outside form plate. The adjacent outside form plate 27 is similarlysecured to the gusset plate so that one end 28 extends beyond the end 29of the adjacent plate. The end 29 has an apertured lug 31 extendingtherefrom flush with its edge and a hole in the adjacent outer plate 27registers therewith to receive a bolt 32 to secure the outer platestogether at the corners. This prevents the outer form plates fromswiveling outwardly when concrete is poured between the form plates. Itwill be observed that one edge 29 of an outside form plate, which isoverlapped by the next adjacent outside form plate, is skewed to meetthe sloping inside wall of the overlapping form plate, so as to form ataper-ed corner angle. The inner form plates are constrained by means ofa corner piece 33 inserted between the ends of adjacent form plates.

The corner comprises a fillet portion 33a joined by a straight part awider at the top than at the bottom, thus providing a socket havingskewed or taper-ed edges 34 and 35. These skewed edges are equal inwidth to the top flange of the inside form plate and have retainingflanges 36 and 37. The gusset plate has an opening 38 through which thefillet pieces can be inserted or removed, the sloping edges 34, 35 ofthese pieces cooperating with the skewed edges 19, 21 of the form platesenable the corner fillet pieces to be removed easily. When these filletpieces are removed the inside form plates are clear of the end walls.

. The form plates may have dams therein to allow openings for doors,windows or the like. Each dam comprises a plate 39 having a top flange41 integral therewith and a tapered lug 40 may be located on one face.The dam is secured at the top by bolting the top flange 41 to the insideand outside form plates. The bottoms of the form plates are held apartby a plank or other suitable bar between the tapered lugs 40, as toprevent poured concrete from flowing into the area between dams. Thebottoms overlap and engage the previously poured course. These dams maybe readily inserted at the place required, for doors, windows, or otheropenings and may be readily removed. The dam may have a core 42 to forma groove on the edge of the opening. Grooves 43 for electrical conduitsor the like may be provided by a core 44 fastened to an inside formplate. If it is desired to provide an embedded vertical conduit holethrough the concrete wall the core may be in the form of a lightweightsheet metal tube having the vertical edges overlapped so the tube can becollapsed. This tube may extend through a hole in an extension orbracket on one of the form plates,'and is retained in position by aflange thereon. When the form plate is to be raised 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3dare secured to the embedded rods;

g: corner pieces 33 are inserted through the holes 38 in the the coremay be collapsed in any suitable manner and then is raised with the formplate.

In using the apparatus, after the footing is poured with the rods 2embedded therein, the couplings 4 and posts and the gusset plates 9placed in position thereon. Rods 3b, 311, etc. are of such length thatthey are continuous and extend slightly beyond the top of the wall. Theinside form plates 15 are bolted to the gusset plates and the gussetplates. The outer form plates 22 then are fastened to the gusset platesby the lugs 11, 25 and pins 26 and adjacent outer form plates arefastened together at the corners by the bolts 32. Dams 39 are positionedat the location of doors, Windows, or other openings; concrete then ispoured between the forms to form thecourse 46.

When the concrete has set sufilciently the corner pieces 33 are liftedout through openings 38, the bolts holding the dams in place areremoved, and bolts 32 are removed to allow the outer form plates to bepivoted outward to clear the inturned flanges 24 from the concrete. Bylocating the pivot point 26 slightly beyond the edge of flange 24, orbeyond the center of gravity of the form plate the outer form plate canbe swung outwardly and theflanges 24 will not'break away the lower edgeof the course. The jack nuts now are turned to raise the gusset platesand form plates totthenext elevation at which point theinside form plateslightly overlays the last poured mass or slab of concrete and thebottom flange 24 of the outside form .plate lies below the top of thelast pouredmass46. The bolts 32 and corner pieces 33 are reinserted andthe form is ready to receive concrete again. This arrangement enablesthepouring'of concrete inihorizontal courses with the face of theIconcretecourses inclined to simulate clapboard; and the rounded edgesformed by the fillet joining 'flange 24 to plate 22, reduces theliability of chipping or breaking off this protruding portion of thecourse. When concrete ispou-red the new concrete forms an overlappedjoint with the previously poured concrete, as shown by the broken linesin Figure 2. This produces a water tight joint, and conceals thejuncture of the two courses of concrete. The provision of filletsontheinside wall by the-curved form 33 strengthens the corner andreduces any tendency of the wall tocrack at the corners. As fast as onecourse sets the forms can be raised in position merely by turning thejack nuts, to allow pouring the next course. The rods 31:, 3b, 3c, and3d remain embedded in the concrete and serve as reenforcement rods, andas these rods extend above the top of the wall, they may be employed forattaching the roof plates to the wall. Other vertical or horizontalreinforcing rods may be located in the wall as desired. Where interiorwalls are to be cast, forms for this purpose can be secured to the innerwall forms by suitable gusset plates. It will be noted that dams orcores can be removed or inserted as desired to provide for openings orchannels in thewalls.

If desired, sheets of insulation can be inserted between the inside andoutside form plates so that when the concrete is poured the insulationsheets will be embedded and anchored in the wall. This construction isshown in Figure 7, where sheets or planks 47 of insulation materialare-inserted between the outside form plate 22 and the inside form plate15. These sheets are held in position by suitable wire staples or nails48 forced in at an angle to hold the sheet to the embedded course. Thetwo'portions of the wall thus are separated by the insulation layer, andsuitable reenforcing rods 49 passing through the insulat-i'on layer areembedded in the concrete to tie together the two wall portions and holdthe insulation layer in place. The wall may also include verticalrecnforcing rods 51 arranged as desired in the wall, and horizontal rods49 may be tied thereto. The insulation layer may be any desiredthickness.

We claim as our invention:

1. An apparatus for molding corner-forming concrete walls in tierswithin a predetermined wallspace extending upwardly from a base ('1),comprising: a rod (3a, 3b, etc.) positioned within said wall spaceadjacent a corner to extend vertically-through successive molding zoneswith its lower cndanchored (2, 4) firmly to said base; elevatmg means(5, 8) mounted on said rod .for adjustment vertically along said rod tosuccesiv-e operative positions for successive tier molding zones, saidelevating means, in each position, extending over said corner wall spaceand presenting outer and inner ends adjacent 'the outer and inner sidesof said corner; an outside corner-forming (22, 27.) and an insidewall-forming (15, 15.) pair of horizontally extending form plates, eachpair being adapted to occupy a series of successively higher moldingpositions for that corner, the adjacent end portions of the outside pair(22, 27) meeting each other (see 29) at the outside corner in saidmolding positions; the inside pair (15, 15) presenting, in said moldingpositions, end portions which are relatively adjacent to each other (see19, 21) at said inside corner; connecting means, adjacent said corner,connecting said outside pair (see 11, 12 and 25) to the outer end, andsaid inside pair (see 13, 14 and 18) to the inner end, of said elevatingmeans, each plate of said outside pair being movable, relatively to saidelevating means, outwardly from its molding position to a transportationposition wherein it is vertically movable, bodily with said elevatingmeans, from one molding Zone to another; and holding means (31, 32) forreleasably maintaining said outside pair in their molding positions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said rod is threaded; and saidelevating means includes a rotatable carrier (5) threaded to said rodand a non-rotatable plate (8) mounted on said carrier to extend oversaid corner wall space to present said outer and inner ends.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the inner molding face, of at leastone plate of said outside pair, slopes outwardly as it proceedsdownwardly in its tier molding position and then turns inwardly forclapboard simulation purposes; and the end portion of one of said platesof said outside pair overlappingly engages the end edge of the otherplate of the same pair.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein: the inner molding faces of bothplates of said outside pair slope outwardly in the downward directionand then turn inwardly.

5. The apparatus of'claim 3 wherein: said inward turn is below thebottom joint line of the tier being molded to cause such tier to overlapthe upper margin of the outside face of the structure immediatelybeneath that net.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein: the overlapping plate of saidoutside pair slopes outwardly as it proceeds downwardly; and the endedge of the other plate of said outside pair is slanted to conform tothe slope of the overlapping plate.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said adjacent end portions of saidinside pair 15, 15 are spaced (see 19, 21) from each other in saidmolding positions; the end face, of at least one plate of said insidepair, slopes inwardly in the general direction of the inside corner asit proceeds downwardly and cooperates with the end face of the otherplate of the same inside pair to provide a downwardly tapered socket inthe crook of the inside corner between end faces; a downwardly taperedsocket member is insertible into said socket to a molding position inwhich it provides an inner molding face extending along the insidecorner wall space between the end faces of said inside pair; andinterengaging means areprovided between said inside pair of plates andsaid tapered socket member to retain said socket member in its moldingposition within said socket.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein: at said inside corner, both of theadjacent end faces of said inside pair slope inwardly.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein: at said inside corner, both of theadjacent ends of said inside pair coop crate to provide a downwardlytapered slot on an outer side of said socket.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein: the interengaging means providedby said socket extends through said downwardly tapered slot.

11. In an apparatus for molding corner-forming concretewalls in tierswithin a predetermined wall space, an improved inside corner-moldingarrangement comprising: an inside wall-forming pair of form plates, onefor each of a pair of corner-forming walls, each plate extending, in itsmolding position, horizontally along and vertically across a tiermolding space of its wall, said plates having spaced verticallyextending end faces adjacent said inside corner with at least one endface sloping inwardly in the general direction of the inside corner asit proceeds downwardly and cooperating with the adjacent end face toprovide a downwardly tapered socket in the crook of said inside cornerbetween said end faces; a downwardly tapered socket member inserti'oleinto said socket to a molding position in which it provides an innermolding face extending along the inside corner wall space between theend faces of said inside pair; and interengaging means between saidinside pair and said tapered socket member to retain said socket memberin its molding position within said socket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6Chidester Aug. 15, 1905 Morris July 9, 1907 Weber Nov. 29, 1910 KeenanJune 15, 1915 Jackson Dec. 14, 1915 Troolin Sept. 6, 1921 Aarsrud Sept.30, 1924 Fels Nov. 3, 1925 Showers Nov. 19, 1929 Sproul Feb. 24, 1931McKee June 16, 1931 Kleitz Mar. 20, 1934 Hallisy Mar. 14, 1939 HawesMar. 5, 1946 Slater Sept. 21, 1948 Robinson Dec. 13, 1949 FOREIGNPATENTS Great Britain "Mar. 1, 1922 Great Britain May 18, 1925 GreatBritain May 18, 1925 Germany Oct. 10, 1927

